NGO trains campus journalists on combating fake news

In a bid to counter fake news and promote media literacy, FactCheckAfrica – a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) – has trained no fewer than 100 campus journalists in Southwest, Nigeria.

The workshop which took place at the Mahogany Hotel in Ibadan had in attendance 100 campus journalists across the Southwest and North Central regions.

In her welcome address, Nurah Jimoh, the Executive Director of the Brain Builders Youth Development Initiative (BBYDI), highlighted the importance of equipping the campus journalists with tools to combat fake news.

“We understand the formidable challenge faced in combating information pollution. We want to equip participants with the weapons needed. We are driving towards a future where fact triumphs over fiction,” Nurah said.

The workshop also witnessed the launching of Myaifactchecker, an Artificial Intelligence civic-tech tool for quicker and easier verification of fake news by Lukman Adeoti, a BBYDI researcher.

“Myaifactchecker will quickly help you fact-check any claim in your preferred and provide basic insights into your research,” Lukman said.

Biliaminu Manne, an editor with ObserverMag and a participant at the capacity building, while speaking, described the tool as a massive development in the media industry. 

Biliaminu said, “The launch of the myAIfactchecker is indeed a massive development that I didn’t dream about. I was amazed about its features and how someone can operate it to find his way without much effort.

“As a practicing journalist, the tool will serve as my number one FactChecking tool before advancing and moving forward to other tools and OSINT tools, to strictly detect if certainly what I got from myAIfactchecker is the fact of what I’m verifying.”

Also, a campus journalist from University of Ibadan, Musbau Sulaimon, said he learnt the methodology involved in fact checking and the various digital tools that can be used to determine the authenticity of public content.

“I only know the meaning of the word fact-check but I haven’t actually practicalised it before. However, this workshop has equipped me with the knowledge needed to verify claims,” Sulaimon stated.

Fatimoh Iderah, a campus journalist at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, while speaking with this reporter, thanked the organizer for bringing up a brain-boosters workshop to help creativity of the campus journalists.

She said, “I am so elated to attend this training because it is an eye-opening workshop for me.

“What I love most about this training was the fun game, the ability to create something faster to work for you as a reporter. All thanks to FactCheckAfrica for bringing this up.”